Shipping-crate.



No. 725,898. PATENTED APR. 21, 1903.

G. L. WALBURN. SHIPPING CRATE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO. 24, 1902.

N0 MODEL.

llll* Illllllll I agg* I @Dwmr A i t UNiTnD 'STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GRANDFRSON L. WALBURN, OF SALISBURY, MISSOURI.

SHIPPING-CRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 725,898, datednApr121', 1903.

Application filed December 24, 1902. Serial No. 136,478. (No model.) n

To tu whom't may concern; v

Be it known that I, GRANDERSQN L. WAL-l moved and -in which the retaining or engag-A ing members are minimized and of comparatively small cost; second, to produce a selflocking closure which will automatically engage the retaining member as'the said closure is applied to a crate; third, to produce a crate-closure and means for retaining the closure against displacement against pressure from within the crate or by reason of the vibration incident to its transportation or the jar encountered in handling.

Finally the object of the invention is to produce a crate and closure which will possess advantages in point of durability.

With the foregoing and other objects in View the invention consists in the details of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter more fully set forth and claimed.

In describing the invention in detail reference will be had to the accompanying draw. ings, forming part of this specification, wherein like characters denote corresponding parts in the several views, and in which- Y Figure lis a view in elevation, partly in section, illustratinga crate and closure erni-` bodying the invention. Fig. 2 is a view in perspective of the closure-engaging member. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a closure. Fig. is a vertical longitudinal section of the crate and closure.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the crate,which may be of any desired size or coniiguration, the only requirement being that the opening to receive the closure shall be at a point in line with the upright posts, such as s hown at 2, in which their upper ends are beveled inwardly, as shown at 3, to form camming-surl V:faces-for `the closure 4, the said closure having its ends beveled, as shown at 5, in order that the end riding over the surface of the post may be elevated and brought to approximatelythe same horizontal plane as the other end.

-This invention is'applicable also to crates in which posts with beveled ends are omitted, and the invention is applicable to crates now in ordinary use by lieveling/the ends o f the closures, applying the closure-retainer, and forming a hole in the closure. In this form where posts are omitted the closure may be sprung,r up at the end' to engage the upper edges of the sides of the crate by the operator.

Stays or ribs (i are usually provided centrally the length of the crate or, as frequently happens, the crates are formed with central partitions; but in any event the rib or stay is recessed to form a guide in which the closure is slidable. The closure-retaining member is in the form of a plate 7, which is secured to the rib orstay and provided with a lug 8, depending into the recess of the ribror stay, there being sufficient space between the end ofl the lug and the bottom of the recess to permit the closure to slide therein. It will be observed that the closure, herein shown in the form of an ordinary crate-strip, has an aperture 9 intermediately its length in such position as to coincide with the lug of the retaining member when both endsof theclo- `sure are engaging the ends of the crate.V

From inspection of the drawings and from the foregoing description it will be apparent that inserting the end of the closure in the recess of the rib or stay and pushing said closure toward the end of the crate the bev- .eled end of the closure engages the cam-surface of the post and rides` thereon untilthe end in engagement with the post is carried to the top of the post. The lug-retaining memberb terminates on a plane inside of the plane of the tops of the posts, so that during the travel of the closure in the recess, after the end of the closure startsv to ascend the surface of thel post, the lug of the retaining member serves to depress the central part of the closure and causes a certain amount of yielding until the aperture of the closure coincides with the lug, when by reason of the resiliency of the closure it springs up over the lug and IOO is caught and retained against further longitudinal move ment, and said closure can be released only on the depression of the central portion of the closure and at the same time thrusting the closure longitudinally. As the power must be applied in two directions to effect a release of the clos ure it stands to reason that accidental dis placement Will be nnlikely. In case the closure becomes Warped through prolonged use it would only be necessary to invert it to make it useful in the connection, as described.

Having fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secu re by Letters 1 5 Patent, is-

In a device ofthe character described a crate having the usual contour, posts having camming-surfaces on their upper ends, a cen- GRANDERSON L. WALBURN.

Witnesses:

MARY K. ROSE, W. G. TYZZER. 

